LONG BLOG

Have you ever been away from home for a really long time? Do you know that warm fuzzy feeling of seeing old friends and family for a week after being away for months at a time? That's kind of how I feel writing this post.

It's good to be home Dtoid.

Alright, maybe I haven't been totally afk for 2015. I've still managed to sneak in a few posts here and there, and I did post a coupleblogs while I was at it. Still, that's a pretty minimal amount of involvement compared to the past couple of years, and I'm hoping that my silly green face will be appearing more frequently throughout the site.

Yes, that's right, I am now the proud owner of my very own website, filled to the brim with my original content that I have printed - and will print - on the web.

Let me be clear: this website is currently 100% out-of-pocket and is no way a competitor to Destructoid or any other gaming blog. As I say in my opening post, I will continue to write Destructoid community blogs and shape my content accordingly. Beyond this post, I don't want to get spammy in advertising it unless it makes sense in the context of my writing.

That said, I sincerely hope you all check it out. Putting this together has been a labor of love, and I've even gone through and re-edited and updated all my articles to fit with my current standards. If you loved my opinions on All The Bravest, then you'll love my new expanded edition of the post! It's like getting an HD remake without having to spend 30 bucks on something you already experienced!

Seriously though, I'm prepping a lot of content to populate the site in the upcoming weeks, and I really hope you all enjoy it. And if you like what I'm doing, you could even... subscribe.

I did it. I asked for a subscription. I have officially crossed over.

That game my avatar is from has risen from the dead! Kind of!

I have been waiting long for the day when I can write a post proclaiming "my game, Driving Shadows, is finally available for download!" That day probably won't be coming anytime soon, but it has gotten a slight bit closer.

Okay, yes, it's just an RPG Maker 2000 game that dates back a generous amount of years at this point, but a chance reigniting of creative fires with its other devs has resurrected the project and put it back in development. Sure, it's a bit of a slow burn, but it feels great to be working on it again.

For my part, I recently went through the entire script with a fine tooth comb to do some editing and revision. Many hours were spent running my dialogue through an external tool that fits text into RM2K's textboxes, only to find that RPG Maker 2000 would get an official English release that is actually equipped to tell you that right in the editor. I am equal parts happy and sad.

I beat Final Fantasy XIV.

Yup, that's right, I finished the whole game. I did everything and have no reason to go back.

"JoyfulSanity, you beat an mmo?"

I certainly did.

"But even the best FFXIV players in the world haven't cleared Alexander Savage yet, how could you-"

DO YOU WANT ME TO WRITE BLOGS OR NOT!?

Real life stuff

You know your year is off to a dynamite start when your grandmother falls and breaks her hip a month into it. You also know your grandmother is a badass when she's miraculously on her feet and walking four months later. Sure, she needs help going out of the house, but still.

I joke about it now but it has actually been pretty stressful. Not even in a "wow I'm so worried and stressed" way, but seeing your whole family scramble and disrupt their lives to figure out what to do from here on out is pretty taxing. A lot of responsibilities fell from one person to another pretty quickly, and before I knew it I was marathoning roadtrips all around the northeastern part of the United States just to do all I needed to do.

More recently, my dog that I've had since I was 12 years old was put to sleep during the same week that Iwata passed. Yes, it left me sad as hell, but it also kind of hit me that I'm not a kid anymore. I figured I can either mourn what I could only see as the death of my childhood or finally embrace the difficulties that come with adulthood at the ripe old age of 26, and I want to ride that momentum of motivation for as far as it takes me.

It's the most jRPGy optimistic outlook on life that I can think of, really, and I'm not planning to change my name to PityPartySanity anytime soon. In truth, I debated whether I wanted to include these details in this blog, but if my silly little epiphanies and triumphs have any chance at helping someone else inadvertently, then it's worth including. I want to be there for those who care about me, and I don't want to lose myself in the process.

So I guess all I'm trying to say is to stay strong, keep your chin up, and make sure to subscribe to joyfulsanity.com for all the latest DAMN IT I'M ALREADY SPAMMING IT.

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Sorry for the extra step!

About JoyfulSanityone of us since 5:05 PM on 07.09.2012

I'm a guy who likes to write about videogames. Sometimes in funny ways and sometimes in artsy ways. You'll just have to read my blogs to find out the difference between the two!

I'm in my mid 20s, I'm from the United States, and this is currently the most productive thing I'm doing with my B.A. in English. I also tend to write really long comments in response to people that start to read like mini-blogs. I apologize in advance for the walls of text.

Also, I like to have fun. I write about controversies sometimes because I get compelled, but I much prefer using caps lock to convey my love for quality RPGs.

If you like my content on Destructoid, you can find even more of it by going to my website!